Bird Strike Committee USA was formed in 1991 to promote collection and analysis of accurate wildlife-strike data; promote development of new technologies to reduce wildlife hazards; facilitate exchange of information; and act as a liaison to similar organizations in other countries. It is directed by an eight-person steering committee comprised of two members each from: Federal Aviation Administration; Department of Defense; U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the aviation-industry Wildlife Hazards Working Group, with associate members from 16 other interested groups, including aircraft and aircraft-engine manufacturers, and U.S. military aviation groups.
The Committee meets annually in conjunction with Bird Strike Committee Canada at various airports or wildlife management areas in the U.S. or Canada.
The following data are of record:
Over 219 people have been killed world-wide as a result of bird strikes since 1988.
Bird and other wildlife strikes cost USA civil and military aviation over $600 million/year, 1990-2008, each year averaging more than 550,000 hours of aircraft downtime
Fifty six thousand incidents were reported to the FAA between 1990 and 2004.
A few specific serious examples are: (1) On Jun. 3, 1995, an Air France Concorde ingested one or two Canada geese into the no. 3 engine when landing at JFK. The engine failed and shrapnel from it destroyed the no. 4 engine and cut hydraulic lines and control cables. The pilot landed the plane safely, but its damage was over $7 million. The French Aviation Authority sued the Port Authority of N.Y. and N.J. and settled for $5.3 million. (2) On Jan. 9, 1998, while climbing to 3,000 feet from Houston, a Boeing 727 struck a flock of snow geese and 3 to 5 birds were ingested into one engine. The engine lost all power and was destroyed. The flight returned safely to Houston. (3) On Sep. 4, 2003, a Fokker 100 struck at least 5 Canada geese after takeoff at La Guardia ingesting 1 or 2 into engine no. 2. The flight was diverted to nearby JFK. A fan blade separated from the disk and penetrated the fuselage.
Over 5,000 bird strikes were reported by the U.S. Air Force in 2007.
Over 7,600 bird and other wildlife strikes were reported for USA civil aircraft in 2007.
Studies indicate that only about 20% of bird strikes to civil aircraft at airports in USA are reported.
From 1990-2004, USA airlines reported 31 incidents in which pilots had to dump fuel to lighten load during precautionary or emergency landings after striking birds on takeoff or climb. An average 11,600 gallons of jet fuel were released in each of these dumps.
To-date, the only practical solutions are relatively primitive: scaring birds from runways by recordings of wild animals and propane cannons that create loud startling noises; and plotting flight paths that avoid heavy migration routes.
Per FAA regulations, currently, before a new engine model can be mounted on planes, it must first prove in a test facility that it is designed and constructed to be structurally and operationally tolerant, to the degree specified, after the ingestion of artificial birds or devices which simulate the mass, shape, density, and impact effects of birds weighing from 0.77 to 8.03 lbs. (0.35 to 3.65 kg.). (14 CFR Sec. 33.76) These tests might not be rigorous enough, however, considering that the largest Canada geese weigh 14 pounds.
While rare for 2 jet engines to fail, the Bird Strike Committee USA wrote the safety board about 4 incidents in 2005-2007 in which both engines of airliners were damaged, namely, by yellow-legged gulls in Rome; canvasback ducks in Chicago; starlings in Washington, D.C.; and doves in Ohio. The latter Ohio aircraft lost all power, slid through an airport security fence and across a highway into a corn field.
On Jan. 15, 2009, the two engines of a U.S. Airways Airbus 320 carrying 155 passengers were struck by geese shortly after take off. Capt. Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles safely landed the plane in the Hudson River.
On Jul. 9, 2009, an American Airlines flight made an emergency landing in St. Louis after a red-tailed hawk was pulled into an engine during take-off. The passengers and crew later flew to Los Angeles on another plane.
Bird strike hazards are increasing because bird populations in North America are growing and more planes are flying.
Technology also has a part in the growing threat from birds. Today's large passenger planes have fewer but more powerful engines than older models. That means it is easier for planes with only two engines to strike a flock of birds and lose power in both engines.
Since birds become habituated to the scare tactics normally used around airports and cease to be repelled or scared by them, U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,670 dated Jun. 18, 2002 described a “Wildlife Conditioning and Suppression System”. That system, used in an area to be protected, included a radar sensor to detect the presence of moving targets, and processing means comprising a computer or programmable logic controller to determine if the moving targets are part of a flock. If so, a light and a speaker are activated. If the birds fail to egress, a high pressure water cannon capable of reaching all points in the protected area is activated.
Professor Edwin Herricks, a Civil and Environmental Engineering researcher has for much of the past decade coordinated an Airport Safety Management program, deploying avian radars at major airports around the country. His radar with array antenna and radar using parabolic dish antenna have been processing data at Seattle-Tacoma International airport and at the higher bird population Whidbey Island. Such avian radars are also to be deployed at Chicago's O'Hare International airport, New York's John F. Kennedy airport, Vancouver International Airport, and Dallas/Fort Worth airport over the next two to three years to assemble the data needed for the FAA to define procedures that may help pilots, air traffic controllers, and wildlife managers avoid a catastrophic bird strike accident. Professor Herricks' work will develop a quantitative measure of hazard throughout the day to identify critical periods, taking into account changes that occur between days and changes that occur between seasons. The hope is to understand how the relative risk of collisions with wildlife changes over time.
The director of the FAA Office of Airport Safety and Standards said that the FAA is spending between $750,000 and one million dollars a year on radar research.
While bird strikes have been part of overall aviation from the Wright brothers inception, strikes involving jet engines have been happening since the onslaught of the world's first known operational jet fighter, namely, the German Messerschmitt Me262, with its Junkers Mumo 004 engine. The Me262 became the most advanced warplane to see service in late 1944 and 1945 in WWII. This was too late and in too small a number for Germany to prolong the European war.
The Me 262, followed in 1947 by the Boeing XB-47, the most influential jet propulsion aircraft of all time, forever changed aircraft engine design and research programs from propeller driven designs to jet engine ramjet, impulse turbine, and reaction turbine designs; axial flow turbojets (1950s) and high bypass turbojets (1960s).
This invention incorporates several embodiments of an air replacement apparatus in conjunction with the bird deflector and the jet cowl to replace the volume of air obstructed by the total area of the bird deflector components.